Typewriting machine



Sept. 7 1926.

' 1,599,308 R- F. WEEMS Er AL TYPEWRITING MACHINE Filed April 17, 1923 3Sheets-Sheet 1 m e/zfa/ts':

Sept. 7 1926.

R. F. WEEMS ET AL J TYPEWRITING MACHINE Filed April -'17 1923 :5shets-sheer-a Patent ed Sept. 7, 1926.

UNITED STATES 1,599,308 PATENT OFFICE.

- ROBERT 12- WEEKS, o1- nzaron'ron, ANnEnwm c. DUNIBAR, or WOLLASTON',MASSA- CEUSETTS, ASSIGNORS T0 unnnawoon TYPEWRITER COMPANY, 01? NEWYORK,

N. Y., A CORPORATION 01 DELAWARE,

' TYPEWRITING *MACHIN E.

Application ma April 17, 1923. Serial 1%. 632,612;

g This invention relates to typewriting machines, and more particularlyto means for inserting-into-xthe machine a pack of worksheets, theleading edge of which is so constitutedjthatgitmisctoo thick-to beinserted in the machine in the ordinaiy-manner.

In certain trades, in practice, there is used a pack of work-sheets orcards for conveying uniformly prepared datavfro'm'department to deartment. This pack may be made up 0 a pluralit of cards of variousweights, textures and colors, having similar forms. Some of them,especially the thin sheets, may -have l e-enforcing paper rings gluedaround filing-holes that are punched in their leading edges; others mayhave cords threaded through similar holes, and all of the cards alongtheir leading edges are suitably bound together, as

with Wire staples, to keep them in registration. A heavy leading edgefor the cardpack, which heretofore has been found too thick to insertinto a typewriter, usually results, thus necessitating the writing ofthe cards by hand One object of our invention is to provide means tomake insertion of the pack into the machine practicable, sothat allthedata sheets may be typed simultaneously, the pack being capable ofinsertion into the machine and around the platen in substantially flatcondition and caused to be fed or line-spaced in the usual manner by thefeed-rolls which co-operate with the platen. I I

To accomplish these and other objects the platen is, in this'instance,made displac able upwardly in the platen-frame to a point where thebottom-ofthe platen is about on a level with the top of the platen-frameor carriage, thus not only leaving a space between the bottom oftheplaten and the usual feed-rolls which run upon its under side, but alsopermitting the front and back of the platencarriage frame to co-operateto serye as a rest or table uponwhich to lay the pack of cards andsheets, the leading end of the pack supported upon the front ba'rof theplaten-carriage, and the bottom portion of the pack resting upon therear bar of the platen-carriage. Thus the pack is readily laid betweenthe, platen and the feed-rolls. The platen when so elevated may remaingeiired to the usual line-spacing ratchetw eel.

.fiat condition upon the carriage frame.

When the pack is thusinserted, it may be in straight condition, and tofacilitate the bending or wrapping of the pack around the platenproperly as the platen descends totyping position, there is arran ed forcooperation with the platen a wor -guide or support which occupies anelevated position just in front'of the'platen and may stand; a littlebeneath the pack as: the latter lies in s the 'laten is pushed down, thepack is caug to by and tucked 1 down between t e platen and said guideor support, and caused to wrap itself properly around the platen as thelatter com let'es its descent'totyping position, at whic point the usualbottom feed-rolls serve to press the pack up against the bottom of the"platen, to co-operate therewith in the subsequent line-feeding of thepack, or in the adjustment of the pack around the platen to bring it toposition for typing the firstfliue' thereon. The space between saidfront ,work-guideor bar and t e rear bar of the platen carriage is onlya lit 1e in excess of the diameter of the platen it- .self, sothat saidfront guide or bar co-.

operates with said rear, paper-apron in bringing the pack, which issometimes very stifl, to proper position around the.

' platen.

. Said'front work-guide or bar is'preferably inthe'form of a feed-rollor'rolls, so as. to perform subsequent service in holding the pack backagainst the platen for the purpose oftyping thereon, and also to aid inline-feeding the pack, especially after the bottom edge thereof'has beenadvanced beyond the feed-rolls which run upon the bottomof the. platen.

Besides means for bending the pack around the platen, there are alsoprovided means for squaring the pack, with the writing-lines on thework-sheets, parallel to the longitudinal axis-ofthe platen,simultaneously withits insertion nto the machine, means for holding thepack in its squared 1 position at all times during a typing operation,and means for holding the trailing edge of the work-sheets tight againstthe platen for typing on the extreme lower edge thereof. 1

, It is also usual to have the lower card, the one that lies nearest tothe platen after insertion, made ofthin flexible cardboard typingoperation.

and, to permit legible printing and typing on the card, to use cardboardwith a slightly glazed surface. This glazed surface coming in contactwith the smooth platen will render the comparatively thick pack liableto skew or twist in the machine during line-spacing, thus throwing thelines of typed matter on the forms out of parallelism. Another object ofour invention is to provide means for not only gaging and squaring thecard-pack upon insertion into the machine, but for retaining it in thatsquared or trued position during the entlre for one of the cards of'thepack also brings up the problem of binding the pack around the platenand means are provided for accomplishing this object so that fe ed1ngmeans may retain it in close proxim ty to the platen for typing matterthereon.

It is desirable and usual to have a plurality of writing-lines on theforms, and to have these writing-lines extend to the very bottom of thecards. Still another object of our invention is to provide feeding andholding means that. will retain thecardpack close to the platen in its tsquared position, holding it both above and below the printin -point,until the very last writing-lines on the forms have received typedmatter.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a plan View of the carriage of a typewriting machine withour mec anism, attached thereto, the parts being in normal position tobegin a typing operation on a card-pack, which is shown inserted in themachine with the first writing-line of the form at the printing-point.

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the same mechanism shown in Figure 1except that the card-pack has been advanced to bring the last writingline of the form to the printing-point.

Figure 3 is a plan View of the carriage of a typewritingmachine wit-hourmechanism attached thereto, the platen-swing frame being displaced toshow the method of inserting the leading edge of a card-pack into themachine.

Figure 4 is a longitudinal, cross-sectional the carriage of the machineon the line 66 of Figure 2, the parts being in the position shown inFigure 3.

The use of cardboard a hole in another naeaaos 10, journaled in aswing-frame 11 which in-p eludes a front paper-table 12 and is mountedin a movable carriage 13. The carriage 13 includes a rear paper-table14, which cooperates with feed-rolls 15 in guiding worksheets underneathand. around the platen 9, and an auxiliary-front paper-table ordeflector 14, the use of which will be more fully explained later. Theplaten 9 is 1'0- tated by means of platen-knobs 16 through spur-gears17, spur-pinions 18, and spurgears 19 which are fastened to theplatenshaft 10. The swing-frame 11 is retained, with the platen innormal position, by hooks 20 which are mounted on the carriage 13 andwhich engage pins 21 on the swingframe 11. Journaled in the carriage 13is a transverse shaft 22 on which are mounted brackets 23, which carry atransverse shaft 24, and brackets 25, which carry a transverse shaft 26.A feed-roll-frame 27, made up of two parallel end members 28 and 29 andtwo parallel transverse shafts 30 "and 31, which carry supplementalfeed-rolls 32, 33 and 34, and Y-shaped clips 35 and 36,

- is mounted on brackets 37 on the transverse shaft 22. The feed-rolls32' and 33 are fastened to the shaft 30, the Y-shaped clips 35 and 36are fastened to the shaft 31, and the feed-roll 34 isloosely mounted onthe latter shaft'on a collar 34. Arms 38 on the brackets 3T engageadjacent flat, cam surfaces on the transverse shaft 26 which is actuatedby feed-roll releasing mechanism, not shown, to release the feed-rolls32, 33 and 34, and the Y-shaped clips 35 and 36 from contact with theplaten when work-sheets are being inserted into the machine in theordinary manner. The end members 28 and 29 are preferably made of springsteel, and have primal-boxes 39 mounted thereon to receive thetransverse shafts 30 and 31, the ends of which are tapped to receiveretaining screws 40.

While this construction may be changed, without departing from ourinvention, itis the preferred form and allows the shaft 30 to rotatewith the feedrolls 32 and 33, and allows the feed-roll 34 to rotateindependently of the shaft 31, which, in turn, may have rotativemovement with the Y-shaped clips 35 and 36.

- The end members 28 and 29 project below the shaft 31 and are caughtbehind the shaft 24, as at 41' and 42, in the manner shown in Figures 6and 7, thus holding the feed-rollframe 27, when it is in normalposition,

8, so that, when the feed-roll-frame 27 is in under additional tensionwith the feed-rolls 32, 33 and 34 pressing against the platen 9. TheY-sha' ed clips 35 and 36 are also preferably mac e of spring steel andhave downwardly-projecting legs 43 and 44 which are caught behind thetransverse shaft- 26, as at 45 and 46, in the manner shown in Figurenormal position, the clips 35 and 36 will also be under additionaltension against the platen 9. It will be noted here that" theprinting-point- 47 of the machine lies ,between the feed-rolls 32 and 33and the tops of the -Y-shaped clips 35' and 36. I

It will be seen from the above description that the feed-rollframe 27,including the feed-rolls 32, 33 and .34, and the Y-shaped clips 35 and36, is inovably mounted as a unit on the brackets 37 and that it willmove awa from the platen 9 as a uniti when actuate by the feed-rollreleasing mechanism, which simultaneously moves the feed-rolls from engaement with the platen 9. The feed-roll-l rame 27 can, of

. course, also be moved up to the platen by the releasing mechanism,after which the various feed-rolls and clips, except the feedrolls 15,will be brought under still greater tension than that exerted by thereleasing mechanism by means of the independent spring-means described.It is important that-this increased holding power ofthe feed-rolls 32,33 and 34 and the Y-shaped clips and 36 be-fully appreciated as thesemembers play an important part in accomplishing the objects desired.

-Mounted'on the rear paper-table 14 are dupiicate adjustablepaper-guides 48 having bodies 49 and upturned edges 50. Another set oiriht and left paper-guides 51, which have bodies 52, upturned edges 53 andwings. 54, are adjustably mounted on the front paper -table 12. Byreferring to Figures 3 and 5, it will be seen that the paperguides 48and 51 co-operating with the paper-tables 12, 14 and 14 form a chute,when the swing-frame .11 is brought forwardly and. downwardlyv todisplace the platen 9 upwardly from the feed-rolls 15, for inserting thecard-pack intothe machine.

Figure 3 particularly shows how the cardpack is squared with the platen,9, by means of the paper-guides 48 and 51, before the plat-en 9 islowered. Figures 1 and 7 show how the paper-guides 48 and 51 retain thecard-pack in its squared position when the platen is lowered. A long,narrow cardpack 55, has, in this instance. an outer or top card 56 madeof comparatively heavy paper with filing holes punched near the leadingedge.

Second and third cards 57 and 58 are made of somewhat lighter paper andhave single filing holesin the center,

near their leading edges, which are protected the cards, and arefastened to ether near their leading edges by wire stapfes 64'which holdthe forms in registration with one another. It will be appreciated thatthe leading edge of the pack 55 will be quite thick due to the paperused for some of the cards and the presence of the wire staples 64 andthe cord It is understood, of course, that the pack may beinterleavedwith carbon-sheets or the sheets of a carbon-pack, that it may be of anydesired dimensions providedit will fit'into the machine, that the numberof cards may vary as may their weights, colors and textures, that anysuitable forms may be printed on them, that any or all of them may beprovided with protected holes, or cords, or both, or be left plainwithout holes or cords at all, or may have a plurality of such holes,and that any suitable fastening means may be employed.

In operation, the typist releases the hooks 20 and lifts the swing-frame'11 forwardly and backwardly until it assumes the position shown inFigures 3 and 6. The upstanding edges 50 and 53 of the paper-guides 48and 51 now form thesides of a sectional chute, the top of which is thefront paper-table i2, and the bottom of which is the flat surface of therear paper-table 14, supplemented by the auxiliary-front paper-table14", and the longitudinal axis ofwhich is atyright angles to thelongitudinal. axis of the platen 9.

Inserting the leading edge of a card-pack 55 between the upstandingedges 50 of the paper-guides 48, it is pushed forward under neath theplaten. and over the feed-rolis 32 and 33, in a straightened condition,until In "this position the [writing-lines on the forms are parallel tothe iongitudin'al axis or the ipiaten 9. The chute thus serves a doublepurpose; that of facilitating the insertion of the cardpack 55 into themachine, and that of squaring the card-- pack with the plat-e119simultaneously with the act of insertion. It will be noted that inraising the platen 9, the feed-rolls15, 32, 33 and, 34 and the V-shaedclips 35 and 36 have all been disengaged without operating thefeed-roll displacing mechanism; in fact,

that mechanism need only be employed when the machine is being used forordinary 7 work.

I of the platen in its descent, it will be notedother than in thedesired manner.

that after striking the pack 55, it bends it downwardly around thefeed-rolls 32 and 33,

and, as the descent continues, the teed-rolls 32 and 33 are placedvunder greater and greater tension, until, when the descent is nished,the pack is held closely against the.

platen, both above and below the printingpoint, and is ready to be typedupon. It

will also be noted thatfkluring the entire descent of the platen tonormal, the pack 55 has been-held in its squared position by thepaper-guides 48 and 5].. The feed-rolls 15'will now be placed, underordinary tension, in contact with the card-pack 55, and the feed-rolls32, 33 andB l and the Y-shaped clips 35 and 36 will be placed underadditional tension by virtue of the spring-steel construction alreadydescribed. The pack 55, as now held, cannot skew or be fed The partshave now reached the positions shown in Figure 7, and it will be seenthat the chute mentioned above has been disrupted by theplaten-returning operation, and now takes the form of two chutesections, one of which is formedby the rear paper-table 14: and

the paper-guides a8,lon the entry side of" said platen, and the other ofwhich is formed by the front paper-table12 and the paper-guides 51, onthe delivery side of said. platen. The chute, as now split into sectionswill continue to function as before in retaining the pack 55 in itssquared position, with reference to the platen, as the pack 55 isadvanced by line-spacing during the typing operation which follows.

The typist now types the required matter on the writing-lines of theform, advancing the card-pack 55 with. the'usual line-space mechanismuntil the trailing edge of the pack 55 passes by the paper-guides as.The additional pressure, alread mentioned as being applied to thefeed-rolls32, 33 and 34 and the ,Y-shaped clips 35 and 36, is now usefulin cooperating with the paper-guides x 51 in keeping the card-pack 55from ing. c

Additional matter is typed on succeeding writing-lines until thetrailing edge of-the card-pack 55 has passed by the feed-rolls 15 and34, the tension of the remaining skew-- still prevent skewing? until.matter has been typed on that last writing-line. The 7 card-pack 55 isnow ulled from the machine with the fingers, s owing every writinglinethereon parallel, to the others: The swing-frame 11 is again releasedand raised, and the entire operation repeated for the next card-pack.

Variations may be resorted to within the scope of the invention, andportions of the improvements may he used without others.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a platen, mainfeed-rolls, means for moving the platen. in its typing position awayfrom the feed-rolls to make room between the platen'and rolls forintroducing work-pieces'beneath the platen andover the rolls,supplemental feed-rollsatthe front of the *platen andlocated above ahorizontal plane drawn through the axis of rotation of .95 the platen inits typewritin operating position for pressing the wor -piece againstthe platen, releasing mechanism for the feedrolls, and resilient meanseilective between the releasing-mechanism, platen and said supplementalfeed-rolls when the releasing mechanism has been 0 erated to move saidsupplemental rolls against the platen in its typewriting operatingposition for pressing said supplemental rolls under additional -ten-'sion against the platen in its typewriting operating position.

2. In a typewriting machine, the com: bination of a platen, mainfeed-rolls, means formoving the platen in its typingposition away fromthe feed-rolls to make room between the platen and rolls for introducingWork-pieces beneath the platen and over the rolls, supplementalfeed-rolls at the front ot'the platen and located above the horizontalplane drawnthrough the axis of fotation of the platen in its typewritingoperating position for pressing the work-piece against the platen abovethe printing line,

fingers at the front of the platen for pressing the work-piece againstthe platen below the printin, line; releasing mechanism for theteed-rolls and said' fingers and resilient means effective between thereleasing mechanism, platen, said supplemental feed-@ rolls and fingerswhen the releasing mechanism has been operated to move said supleniental rolls and fingers against the p aten in its typewritingoperating position for pressing said supplemental rolls and fingersunder additional tension against the platen in its typewriting operatingposition.

3. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a platen, mainfeed-rolls, means for moving the platen in its typing position from thefeed-rolls to make room beneath the platen and feed-rolls forintroducing work-pieces beneath the platen and over the rolls instraight-line condition, a papertable at the rear of the platenforsupporting the work-pieces at their rear, a support at thefrontofthe-platen for supporting the work-pieces at their front as projectedforwardly from the rear straight-line condition beneath the platen andover the main feed-rolls, the top ofthe rear table and said sup ortbeing lower than the platen in its raise position, but higher than theplaten in its typewriting position, an upwardly-inclined deflector pieceatthe rear of said support for directing the sag.-

' ging ends of the work-pieces upwardly onto ,operatin the top of saidsupport, and supplemental feed-rolls at the front of the platen andlocated in-a horizontal plane above the axis of the platen in its typingposition for pressing the work-pieces against the front of the platen asthe latter is lowered to'its'typewritin position,. bending thework-pieces arount? itin its descent to its typewriting position.

. 4. In combination, a typewriting machine having a carriage, a platenand means .for

feeding work around said platen, a swing frame on said carriage, sa1dplaten being mounted in said swingframe and being displaceable upwardlyfrom saidfeeding means, a paper-table on said swing frame,

a second. paper-table on said carriage, side guiding means on both saidpaper-tables, said paper-tables and (guiding means coto define aiscontinuous chute when said platen is dis laced to ermit insertion ofthe work eneath t e raised platen in substantially that condition withthe writing lines substantially parallel to the longitudinalaxis of theplaten, said guiding means being adjustable to accommodate work ofdifferent widths, and an auxiliary front paper-table on said carriage 7having a downwardly inclined portion to guide the leading edge ofthe-work upwardly in both normal and displaced positions of said platen.

5. The combination, a typewriting machine having a carriage, a platenand means for feeding work around said platen, a swing frame onsaidcarriage, said platen beingmounted in said swing frame and beingdisplaceable upwardly from said feed-' ing means, a paper-table on saidswing frame, a second paper-table on said carriage,

side guiding means on both said papertables, said paper-tables andguiding means co-operatingto define a discontinuous chute paper-table inwhen said platen is displaced to permit insertion of the work beneaththe raised platen in substantially flat condition with the writing linessubstantially parallel to the longitudinal axis. of the platen, a firstsupplemental feeding means supported under pressure against the front ofsaid platen above the striking point, and a second supplemental feedingmeans supported under pressure against the platen below said strikingpoint, both of said supplemental feeding means being co-operative withthe guiding means of said first-named paper-table to maintain the worksquared with and in close proximity to said platen after the trailingedge of the work has passed out of control of the guiding means of saidsecond-named paper-table.

.6. In combination, a typewriting ma-- chine having a carriage, a platenand means I for feeding work around said platen, a swing frame on saidcarriage, said platen being mounted in said swing frame and beingdisplaceable upwardly from said feeding means, a paper-table on saidswing frame, a second paper-table on said carriage, side guiding meanson both said paper-tables, said paper-tables and guiding meanscooperating to define a discontinuous chute wien said platen isdisplaced to permit insertion of the work beneath the raised platen insubstantially flat condition with'the writing lines substantiallyparallel to the longitudinal axis of the platen, said chute defining asubstantially straight path during displacement of said platen andproviding entry and delivery guides when said platen is in normalwriting position, a first supplemental feeding means supported underpressure against the front of' said platen above the strikingapoint, asecond supplemental feeding means supported under pressure against theplaten below said striking point, and holding means operatively locatedbetween said striking point and said second supplemental feeding means,said holding means being co-operative with said first supplementalfeeding means-to maintain the work squared with and in close proximityto said platen after the trailing edge of the work-has passed saidsecond supplemental feeding means.

7. In a typewriting machine, in combine;- tion, a carriage, a platen,means for feeding work around said platen, means for displacing saidplaten upwardly from said feeding means to permit the introduction of asubstantially flat piece of work beneath said platen, a supplemental.feed-roll frame mounted on said carria e, said feed-roll frame includingsubstantlally parallel top and bottom members, a plurality ofvfeedrollsoperatively located on said top and bottom members, and a pluralityof-paper-clips on said bottom member, whereby said supits plementalfeed-roll frame is co-operative with said platen during return of thelatter to normal position to etlect bending of the work about saidplatenand at all times maintain said work in substantially smooth meanstopermit the introduction of a substantially that piece Of \\01k beneathsaid platen, a supplemental feed-roll frame. mounted on said carriage,said feed-roll frame including a top shaft located substantially abovethe striking point, a bottom shaft located substantially below thestriking point, said shafts being substantially parallel to each other,substantially parallel end pieces resiliently secured below said bottomshaft, a pair of feed-rolls on said top shaft, a plurality ofpaper-clips on said bottom shaft, and a feed-roll on said bottom shaftbetween said paperclips, whereby said shafts exert pressure toward andare cooperative with said platen during return of the latter to normalposition to eliect bendof the work about said platen and at alltimesmaintain the work in substantially smooth condition about saidplaten.

9. In a front-strike typewriting machine, the combination with a platenand a carriage, of means for displacing said platen upwardly to permitlaying a Work piece or pack beneath said platen, said carriagecomprising means to serve as front and rear sup ports for saidworkpiece, and means to cooperate with the front of said platen, duringthe descent of the latter, to grip said workpiece, so that, during theremainder of the descent of said platen, said. work-piece is wrapped]around the front'and bottom of said platen preparatory to being typedupon.

wrapped around said platen by the co-oper.a-'

tion of all of said guides.

11. In a front-strike typewriting machine, the combination with arevoluble platen, a carriage, and means to cooperate with the under sideof said platen to feed a work sheet or sheets through the machine, ofmeans to displace said platen upwardly, to permit the introduction of awork sheet or sheets below said platen, rotating means mountedvon saidplaten and said carriage to render said. platen rotative whether indisplaced or normal position, and bending means located in front of saidplaten above the printing-point, and occupying a position beneath saidelevated platen, so that said work sheet or-sheets may be inserted andbentbetween said bending means and said elevated platen, said bendingmeans serving to co-operate with said platen, as the latter descends, tobend said Work sheet or sheets around said platen, said bending meansthen cooperating with said co-operati've feeding meansto hold said Worksheet or sheets in smooth condition around said platen preparatory tobeing typed upon.

ROBERT r. WEEMS. nnwrn'. or DUNBAR.

